Firefighting Goats (and other Livestock Too!)

Fire prevention in the WUI (Wildland Urban Interface) can be a delicate and sometimes complicated process. Residents may have concerns about prescribed fire, and its perceived or real risks, as well as the potential for reductions in air quality. Using fire in the WUI can be a challenge due to those risks. Furthermore, other solutions, may also be less than desirable for residents. Applying herbicides, for instance, may raise the concerns of the community, while mechanical thinning may be expensive and difficult, especially in hard to reach places. That's where Kathy Voth comes in. Her work with goat herds to reduce and prevent wildfire provides another option for fuel managers. Goats naturally and cheaply do with gusto, what humans have set up enormous and costly infrastructures to deal with—namely manage fire-suppressed wildlands to prevent damage to homes, wildlife and wildlands, and people. Goats vigorously eat fire prone vegetation like oakbrush, while trampling parts of the area to bare dirt—such areas treated by goats can stop a fire cold. In certain situations, goats may be able to save money, while creating new and effective ways of managing fire-prone landscapes. Voth's project began when she met Joel G